Enjoying Shanghai through the parks, gardens and picnic areas is simple-- parks dot the city and greenery abounds if you know where to look!

The Shanghai Botanical Garden is a great place to head in foul weather for a much needed view of greenery and plant life. In winter, the garden is especially popular. Meanwhile, the outdoor parks of Shanghai like Fuxing Park and Zhongzan give you ample room to fly kites, play Frisbee and walk the dog.

For a cultivated Chinese garden, Yu Gardens offers a central lake surrounded in a bit of greenery. Famous for the international world leaders and celebrities that have visited the tea house in the center of the lake, Yu Gardens is perhaps the most popular spot in town.

The Shanghai Wild Animal Park and JinJiang Amusement Park offer lots to see and do while enjoying the great outdoors. Likewise, Renmin Park in central Shanghai has some of the best people watching in town.

Nearby cities HangZhou and SuZhou have beautiful gardens and lakes of their own on offer. SuZhou is especially well known for its cultivated gardens and shrub sculptures while the greenery around West Lake in Hangzhou is to die for.